Mother tells of ‘horror’ after her home petrol bombed

Gemma Murray

A mother-of-two whose Ballymena home was petrol bombed has told of how she and her children “might not be here now if we hadn’t been away from home at the time”.

Kirsty Lancaster, 26, spoke out after her Barra Drive home in Ballymena was targeted at around 3.45am on Saturday (October 15).

House damaged in petrol bombing in Ballymena

The petrol bomb set fire to window blinds and a chair and caused extensive smoke damage to the living room.

No-one was in the house at the time of the attack.

“I had been out and my mother contacted me and said my house had been petrol bombed,” she said. “If me and my children had been there, well that would have been us - gone.

“I have a boy of six and a girl of four and we have been out of the house ever since because of the smoke damage.

“We need to get new windows and the place cleared.”

Ms Lancaster said “the police are investigating why this happened”.

“Everything in the living room is gone,” she added. “But it is the scare we got. It has been a nightmare.

“I am so thankful we were all out because if we had been at home there could have been three of us carried out of that house.”

Police have appealed to anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area or anyone who has information about this incident to contact Detectives at Reactive and Organised Crime, Ballymena on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 235 15/10/16. Alternatively, if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111.